MXene-induced construction of SnS2 nano-arrays with sulfur vacancies for high-efficiency photocatalytic CO2 reduction.

Solar-driven CO2 reduction has gained significant attention as a sustainable approach for CO2 utilization, enabling the selective production of fuels and chemicals. SnS2, a non-precious metal sulfide semiconductor, has great potential in photocatalytic CO2 reduction due to its unique physicochemical properties. However, low electrical conductivity and susceptibility to aggregation of pure SnS2 lead to a high charge recombination rate and hinder the photocatalytic efficiency.

Copper-Catalyzed Carbonylative Cyclization of CO: A Promising Approach for Synthesis of Flavone.

Flavones are an important class of building blocks for numerous biologically active molecules, pharmaceuticals, and natural products. Reductive carbonylation of CO is a powerful method to provide high-value heterocycles quickly. However, examples of transition metal-catalyzed carbonylation to produce flavones using CO are quite scarce, and the related copper-catalyzed carbonylative cyclization of CO is not reported.

Distinct Fermi Resonance Patterns of Weak Coupling in 2D-IR Spectra of 5-Cyanoindole Revealed by Isotope Labeling.

Fermi resonance is a common phenomenon, and a hidden caveat exists in the applications of infrared probes, causing spectral complication and shorter vibrational lifetime. In this work, using the cyanotryptophan (CNTrp) side chain model compound 5-cyanoindole (CN-5CNI), we performed Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and two-dimensional infrared (2D-IR) spectroscopy on unlabeled CN-5CNI and its isotopically labeled substituents (CN-5CNI, CN-5CNI, CN-5CNI) and demonstrated the existence of Fermi resonance in 5CNI. By constructing the Hamiltonian and simulating 2D-IR spectra, we show that the distinct Fermi resonance 2D-IR patterns in various isotope substituents are determined by the quantum mixing consequences at the = 1 state, as well as the = 2 state, where the Fermi coupling and anharmonicity play a crucial role.

Human and natural factors affect habitat quality in ecologically fragile areas: evidence from Songnen Plain, China.

Habitat quality (HQ) has been progressively degrading worldwide in recent decades due to rapid climate change and intensive human activities. These changes not only threaten biodiversity and ecosystem functions, but also impact socio-economic development. Therefore, a few studies have focused on the dynamics of HQ and its natural and anthropogenic drivers.

Boosted Efficiency of FeO for Photocatalytic CO Reduction via Engineering Fe-O-Ti Bonding.

Visible light-driven photocatalytic CO reduction (CORR) offers a sustainable and promising solution to environmental and energy challenges. However, the design of efficient photocatalysts is hindered by poor interface interactions in heterojunctions and a limited understanding of reaction kinetics. A modified FeO photocatalyst, M-FeO@MXene, is introduced featuring KH-550-modified M-FeO hollow nanocubes coated with MXene, constructed via an electrostatic and Fe-O-Ti bonding self-assembly method.

On-Line Detection Method of Salted Egg Yolks with Impurities Based on Improved YOLOv7 Combined with DeepSORT.

Salted duck egg yolk, a key ingredient in various specialty foods in China, frequently contains broken eggshell fragments embedded in the yolk due to high-speed shell-breaking processes, which pose significant food safety risks. This paper presents an online detection method, YOLOv7-SEY-DeepSORT (salted egg yolk, SEY), designed to integrate an enhanced YOLOv7 with DeepSORT for real-time and accurate identification of salted egg yolks with impurities on production lines. The proposed method utilizes YOLOv7 as the core network, incorporating multiple Coordinate Attention (CA) modules in its Neck section to enhance the extraction of subtle eggshell impurities.

Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of naphthalene imidazo[1,2-b]pyridazine hybrid derivatives as VEGFR selective inhibitors.

The vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) is a receptor tyrosine kinase that is regarded as an emerging target for abnormal angiogenesis diseases. In this study, novel naphthalene imidazo[1,2-b]pyridazine hybrids as VEGFR selective inhibitors were designed and synthesized using a scaffold hopping strategy based on ponatinib, a multitarget kinase inhibitor. Among the evaluated compounds, derivative 9k (WS-011) demonstrated the most potent inhibitory potency against VEGFR-2 (IC = 8.

Cu-phen Coordination Enabled Selective Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO to Methane.

Manipulation of selectivity in the catalytic electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (eCORR) poses significant challenges due to inevitable structure reconstruction. One approach is to develop effective strategies for controlling reaction pathways to gain a deeper understanding of mechanisms in robust CORR systems. In this work, by precise introduction of 1,10-phenanthroline as a bidentate ligand modulator, the electronic property of the copper site was effectively regulated, thereby directing selectivity switch.

Nanoscale Localized Phonons at AlO Grain Boundaries.

Nanoscale defects like grain boundaries (GBs) would introduce local phonon modes and affect the bulk materials' thermal, electrical, optical, and mechanical properties. It is highly desirable to correlate the phonon modes and atomic arrangements for individual defects to precisely understand the structure-property relation. Here we investigated the localized phonon modes of AlO GBs by combination of the vibrational electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in scanning transmission electron microscope and density functional perturbation theory (DFPT).

Probing Hyperbolic Shear Polaritons in β-GaO Nanostructures Using STEM-EELS.

Phonon polaritons, quasiparticles arising from strong coupling between electromagnetic waves and optical phonons, have potential for applications in subdiffraction imaging, sensing, thermal conduction enhancement, and spectroscopy signal enhancement. A new class of phonon polaritons in low-symmetry monoclinic crystals, hyperbolic shear polaritons (HShPs), have been verified recently in β-GaO by free electron laser (FEL) measurements. However, detailed behaviors of HShPs in β-GaO nanostructures still remain unknown.

Role of excited-state hydrogen bonding in CO photoreduction catalyzed by sodium magnesium chlorophyll.

In this paper, we report a joint experimental and computational study to elaborate the mechanism for the photocatalytic CO reduction reaction (CORR). Experimental results indicate that the catalyst (sodium magnesium chlorophyll, MgChlNa), which has a well-defined structure for calculation and understanding, can achieve the photoreduction of CO to CO only using water as a dispersant, without adding any photosensitizer or sacrificial agent. Subsequently, a series of structural models of the hydrogen-bonded complexes of the catalyst were constructed and outlined utilizing density functional theory (DFT) calculations, including photophysical and photochemical processes.

Boron-Assisted Cobalt-Catalyzed C-H Methylation Using CO and H.

C-H methylation of heteroarenes (e.g., indoles, pyrroles, etc.

Four-dimensional electron energy-loss spectroscopy.

Recent advances in scanning transmission electron microscopy have enabled atomic-scale focused, coherent, and monochromatic electron probes, achieving nanoscale spatial resolution, meV energy resolution, sufficient momentum resolution, and a wide energy detection range in electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). A four-dimensional EELS (4D-EELS) dataset can be recorded with a slot aperture selecting the specific momentum direction in the diffraction plane and the beam scanning in two spatial dimensions. In this paper, the basic principle of the 4D-EELS technique and a few examples of its application are presented.

Tunable Interband Transitions in Twisted h-BN/Graphene Heterostructures.

In twisted h-BN/graphene heterostructures, the complex electronic properties of the fast-traveling electron gas in graphene are usually considered to be fully revealed. However, the randomly twisted heterostructures may also have unexpected transition behaviors, which may influence the device performance. Here, we study the twist-angle-dependent coupling effects of h-BN/graphene heterostructures using monochromatic electron energy loss spectroscopy.

Selective hydrogenation of dimethyl terephthalate over a potassium-modified Ni/SiO catalyst.

Selective hydrogenation of dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) is an ideal way to prepare 1,4-cyclohexane dicarboxylate (DMCD), an important intermediate and monomer. Even though noble metal-based catalysts (, Ru, Pd) have been developed for selective hydrogenation of DMT, the use of non-precious Ni catalysts to achieve high activity and selectivity is still challenging. In this study, we present that only 0.

Single-Molecule Force Spectroscopy of Deoxyribonucleic Acid and Deoxyribonucleic Acid Polymerase Activity Impacted by Alkylating Agents.

DNA alkylating agents are widely used in anticancer pharmacology. Although shown to induce cross-linking and/or methylation of DNA, how they affect the mechanical properties of DNA and activity of DNA enzymes remains to be elucidated. Here, we perform single-molecule optical tweezer experiments on DNA treated with alkylating agents, including melphalan, cisplatin, and dacarbazine.

Phonon transition across an isotopic interface.

Isotopic mixtures result in distinct properties of materials such as thermal conductivity and nuclear process. However, the knowledge of isotopic interface remains largely unexplored mainly due to the challenges in atomic-scale isotopic identification. Here, using electron energy-loss spectroscopy in a scanning transmission electron microscope, we reveal momentum-transfer-dependent phonon behavior at the h-BN/h-BN isotope heterostructure with sub-unit-cell resolution.

Hyperbolic whispering-gallery phonon polaritons in boron nitride nanotubes.

Light confinement in nanostructures produces an enhanced light-matter interaction that enables a vast range of applications including single-photon sources, nanolasers and nanosensors. In particular, nanocavity-confined polaritons display a strongly enhanced light-matter interaction in the infrared regime. This interaction could be further boosted if polaritonic modes were moulded to form whispering-gallery modes; but scattering losses within nanocavities have so far prevented their observation.

Mountain-water-forest-farmland-lake-grassland-sandland holistic protection and restoration engineering and landscape ecology.

Theoretical researches and practices on the life community of mountain-water-forest-farmland-lake-grassland-sandland mosaic and its protection and restoration have been gradually developed in China, which demands the support of a systematic disciplinary theory. Landscape ecology, as an interdisciplinary science of geography and ecology, can meet such demand thanks to its macroscopic spatial theory and technical system. Here, landscape ecology is taken as the supporting discipline of holistic protection and restoration for mountain-water-forest-farmland-lake-grassland-sandland mosaic.

Palladium-Catalyzed Carbonylation for General Synthesis of Aurones Using CO.

The carbonylation of alkynes using CO to generate aurones is to date unknown. In this study, a palladium-catalyzed carbonylation of terminal aromatic alkynes and the waste hydrosilane, poly(methylhydrosiloxane) (PMHS), is carried out with 2-iodophenol using CO to produce aurones. A variety of terminal alkynes and substituted 2-iodophenols are transformed into aurones in good yields.

KOH-Enabled Axial-Oxygen Coordinated Ni Single-Atom Catalyst for Efficient Electrocatalytic CO Reduction.

Precise control of the coordination structure of metal centers is an ideal approach to achieve reasonable selectivity, activity, and stability in the electrochemical reduction of CO . In this work, the KOH activation strategy for preparation of hierarchically porous material containing Ni single-atoms with axial-oxygen coordination is reported. Spectroscopic measurements reveal the multiple roles of KOH as oxygen source, pore-making reagent and promoter for the formation of key phthalocyanine structure.

Catalytic Cyanation of C-N Bonds with CO/NH.

Cyanation of benzylic C-N bonds is useful in the preparation of important α-aryl nitriles. The first general catalytic cyanation of α-(hetero)aryl amines, analogous to the Sandmeyer reaction of anilines, was developed using reductive cyanation with CO/NH. A broad array of α-aryl nitriles was obtained in high yields and regioselectivity by C-N cleavage of intermediates as ammonium salts.